Jan 29 2008
The allocation of nearly £65,000 of funding from WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) to a Rotherham plasterboard recycling operation, will enable the major facility to process an additional 85,000 tonnes of waste plasterboard over the next five years.
The award by WRAP’s plasterboard capital funding competition to Roy Hatfield Ltd has enabled the Rotherham-based recycling operation to make a series of improvements and additions to its facilities and introduce two significant new pieces of reprocessing equipment.
The WRAP funding means Roy Hatfield Ltd has been able to double its storage capacity through the construction of a new covered bay capable of holding approximately 600 tonnes of waste plasterboard. The installation of a primary sizer ensures the waste plasterboard entering the separation process is of a consistent size, so optimising operating speed. Similarly a new cyclone and density separator improves the separation of the gypsum and paper, thereby improving the quality of the recycled gypsum powder and producing cleaner paper - which can itself now be supplied into new markets. Finally, vehicular access to the loading and storage areas has been improved thanks to new concrete hardstanding and drainage.
The need for improvements to the existing recycling facility has been driven by high levels of customer demand for Roy Hatfield’s services. This demand will continue to increase with rising landfill tax and the introduction of Site Waste Management Plans providing greater incentives to recycle plasterboard waste. The WRAP funding amounts to 30% of the total project cost for the improvement programme and will enable an additional 85,000 tonnes of waste plasterboard to be processed over the first five years of operation.
Mark Hatfield of Roy Hatfield Ltd, said: “As far as we are aware our plant is now the largest independent plasterboard recycling facility in the UK. This programme of improvements helps us to consolidate that position, providing a quicker, more efficient and more competitive service to our customers.”
Dave Marsh, Project Manager for the Construction Materials Recycling Programme at WRAP, said: “The aim of the Plasterboard Capital Support Programme at WRAP is to improve the amount and quality of plasterboard that is recovered and recycled from UK construction and demolition sites. WRAP provides financial assistance towards the cost of plant, equipment and infrastructure for projects that would not have been otherwise undertaken, to increase recycling capacity in the UK. Roy Hatfield Ltd is a company with a long history of providing cost effective and environmentally sound solutions for dealing with bulk wastes and the improvements funded have created a plasterboard recycling facility which is among the best examples of its type in Europe.”
Current estimates put the arisings of plasterboard waste from UK construction and demolition sites at around 900,000 tonnes per annum. The UK’s current recycling capacity is around 500,000 tonnes per annum.